Blind Saga Resolved

We resolved our blinds saga by throwing a lot of money at the problem. By the time we decided the blinds.com blinds weren't working out, we were already fully using the room for baby number 2 (surprise, we have a new human "addition" as well as a new room addition). The bright sunlight needed filtering periodically during the day when it shone into the crib, and the street light needed blocking when one of us brought her down to sleep there in the middle of the night so that at least one parent could catch some precious zzzzzs. Without any willingness to shop around ourselves, we brought in a local decorating store that had recently advertised that they did house calls for window dressing.

And so they came with binders. Lots of little samples that could be un-velcroed and held up to the window to see the way they filtered the sunlight (thank goodness it was sunny that day).

We picked a lovely gray that complemented the wall color in a cellular blind that can be raised and lowered from the top and bottom. We decided not to pay extra to have them installed for us, despite the frustration from installing the set from blinds.com. Fortunately, as we expected and hoped, these were much simpler. D had them both up within 20 minutes or so, with minimal hardware.

I love that we can raise and lower them from both ends, so we can get full sunlight but privacy (bottom half covered only) or as much light filtering as we need. They are magnetic at the top, making it easy even for someone short like me to snap the top edge into place.

We couldn't be happier, though I doubt I would go this route again, given the price. We definitely would have shopped around and done it on our own if the first order hadn't taken so long and we hadn't been in a rush for blinds in there. It is a sign of how much we love the room though - we couldn't wait to be able to use it around the clock.

A Blind Saga

Our new room overlooks our driveway and feels pretty public, especially at night with the light on, so one of our first priorities was to install blinds. We wanted very simple window dressing, just enough to give us privacy but still allow a lot of light. We opted for blinds on naked windows instead of curtains or other drapery. You may remember we even started planning before the room was actually done. We chose our fabric from blinds.com, sent off the order, and waited.

And waited, and waited. The blinds had an arrival estimate of late August through September 6. They arrived exactly 1 week AFTER the estimated window, on September 13. Strike 1.

The instructions for the blinds were written originally for corded blinds, with installation of cordless blinds a sloppy and inaccurate afterthought. We were so confused that we thought we had been given the wrong hardware and called customer service for help. The person had no idea how the blinds were supposed to be installed or what our hardware kit should look like, so we eventually ended the call in frustration. Strikes 2 and 3.

OK, but perhaps if we could figure it out ourselves then we would be happy with the final product.

First thing to notice - the rolling fabric is very minimal but the cassette that holds it is giant and generic, which looks sloppy given how much we paid for it. In fact, we paid extra because it was supposed to provide a finished look at the top of the window.

Eh, nope - it sticks out from the window (despite having to give them the precise depth when ordering) and sits a little crooked.

The bottom of the blind is pretty  low quality too. Some kind of plastic strip glued inside the (cheap and vinyl/plastic feeling) fabric.

In the end, after over an hour of two people trying to figure out installation without the help of instructions, we were just thoroughly disappointed by the bad quality of the blinds (which were not all that cheap). If we wanted cheap blinds, we figured, we would have run to Lowes or Home Depot and at least gotten them immediately, and not a week late.

Fortunately blinds.com did not try to "fix" their order with suggestions of upgrades or recuts. They asked that we donate the blinds to Habitat for Humanity or other non-profit building organization and scan the receipt in, and then they would reimburse us. We did and they did and that was the end of it.

Except that our room still felt horribly on-display once it got dark out (which, given the advancing calendar, started at about 6:30pm). So it was back to the drawing board with all that time wasted. To be continued....